The problematic rabbi did his part. He has able to tick every box in the Hasbara book; from verbal smears to proper harassment. On the day of my talk he and his Rebbetzin wife even visited the Fairtrade shop at the Community Center where I was presenting my talk and attempted to intimidate the staff by shoving a camera in front of their faces. This shouldn't take us by surprise -- if it looks like a settler and it behaves like a settler, it may as well be a settler. However, Reading is not in the West Bank and that kind of vile behavior is not what well mannered Brits expect from religious clerics.
48 hours before I was scheduled to talk, the Rabbi circulated a letter to Reading's councilors, the local press and other parties involved. In the letter the Rabbi wrote "I wish to express on behalf of my community (as mentioned above, the rabbi doesn't have a community, he was dismissed) my great distress that RISC are allowing a meeting to be held to promote Gilad Atzmon's latest book."
Comment: The key thing to know about leveling criticism towards Israel and Zionists: "...it interferes with their sense of total impunity"